Builder motion for textile machines



H. WHITTAKER ETAL BUILDER MOTION FOR TEXTILE MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed March 28, 1966 INVENTORS Feb. 20, 1968 H. WHlTTAKER ETAL BUILDERMOTION FOR TEXTILE MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 28, 1966INVENTORS HAROLD WHITTA'KER JOSEPH WALMSL Y 20 e l e 1968 H. WHITTAKEIETAL 3,369,754

BUILDER MOTION FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Filed March 28, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet8 INVENTORS HARO WHITTAKER JOSE WALM SLEY 20% f/wfe United States PatentBUILDER MOTION FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Harold Whittaker, Alkrington,Middleton, and Joseph Walmsley, Breightmet, Bolton, England, assignorsto T.M.M. (Research) Limited, Oldham, Lancashire,

England, a British company Filed Mar. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 537,947 11Claims. (Cl. 24226.3)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention provides a builder motion for atextile machine, said builder motion including a traverse rail driveswitch-able between first and second conditions in which said rail isdriven in one direction and in the opposite direction respectively.Means for switching said drive alternately from one condition to theother which comprises two differential mechanisms each having a firstrotary input member oscillated in synchronism with said rail, a secondrotary input member responsive to a build adjusting mechanism, and arotary output member. The two rotary output members, one in eachdifferential mechanism, respectively initiate switching of said raildrive from said first to said second condition, and from said second tosaid first condition.

The present invention relates to builder motions for textile machines ofthe type in which yarn or filament is wound on to a bobbin and causedrelatively to advance therealong to form a package by the traversing ofa traverse rail.

On some ring spinning and twisting machines and particularly ondrawtwisters it is desirable that provision should be made for buildingpackages of different types and it is an object of the present inventionto provide a builder motion of the type specified, which will facilitatethe production of a variety of different builds.

According to the present invention, there is provided a builder motionfor a textile machine of the type specified, comprising a traverse raildrive which can be switched between a first condition in which itimparts a drive to the traverse rail in one sense and a second conditionin which it imparts a drive to the rail in the opposite sense, andswitching means for switching the drive alternately from one of itsconditions to the other, said switching means comprising twodifferential mechanisms each having a first rotary input member arrangedto be oscillated in synchronism with the movement of the traverse rail,a second rotary input member responsive to a build adjusting mechanismand a rotary output member, the rotary output member of one of themechanisms initiating the switching of the traverse rail drive from thefirst condition to the second condition and the rotary output member ofthe other mechanism initiating the switching of the traverse rail drivefrom the second condition to the first condition.

The build adjusting mechanism may with advantage comprise a cam operatedfrom a rotary member of the machine and arranged to displace a camfollower causing a predetermined turning movement of the second rotaryinput member. The cam is preferably driven from the rotary member of themachine through an arrangement of gears which can readily beinterchanged for the purpose of modifying the build of the package.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an end elevation of a drawtwister embodying a builder motionaccording to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a broken scrap view showing one of the traverse rails of thedrawtwist-er shown in FIG. 1,

3,369,764 Patented Feb. 20, 1968 FIG. 3 is an end elevation of thebuilder motion shown in FIG. 1, drawn to a larger scale, and

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line IV'IV in FIG. 3.

Referring first to FIG. 1, this shows a builder motion 10, according tothe invention, mounted at the end of a drawtwister in which drawnsynthetic filaments are conventionally wound on to packages on verticalrotary spindles by means of rings and travellers carried by a ring oneach side of the machine to which a variable traverse is imparted by thebuilder motion. The drive for the builder motion is provided by ahydraulic ram 11 comprising a cylinder 12 and a piston element 13. Thelower end of the cylinder 12 is anchored to the machine frame and theupper end of the piston element 13 is connected to two racks l4 and 15which are guided for vertical reciprocatory movement in upper guidechannels 16 and 17 and lower guide channels 18 and 19. The rack 14 isengaged by a pinion 20 fixedly mounted on the end of a horizontaldriving shaft 21 which extends the full length of the machine, and therack 15 is engaged by a pinion 22 likewise fixedly mounted on the end ofa further horizontal driving shaft 23 extending the full length of themachine. As shown in FIG. 2, the shaft 23 is rotatably supported at itsend in frame members 24 and 25 and has fixedly mounted thereon pinions26 and 27 which drivingly engage vertically arranged racks 28 and 29supporting the ends of a ring rail 30 which is guided for verticalreciprocating movement on guide rods 31 secured to the machine frame.

In operation, hydraulic fluid is alternately fed to one side and thenthe other side of the piston element 13, causing the piston element 13to raise and lower the racks 14 and 15. The pinions 20 and 22 are thusrotated first in one sense and then in the opposite sense, theoscillatory motion imparted to the shaft 23 serving to reciprocate theracks 28 and 29 and cause the raising and lowering of the ring rail 30and the oscillatory motion imparted to the shaft 20 serving toreciprocate corresponding racks for the other ring rail and cause theraising and lowering thereof.

The pinion 22 as :best seen in FIG. 3 drivingly engages an idler pinion31 which transmits the oscillatory motion of the pinion 22 to a pair ofgear wheels 32 and 33 drivingly interconnected by an idler pinion 34.The gear Wheel 32 is, as shown in FIG. 4, anchored by a screw 35 to abevel gear wheel 36 rotatably mounted on a stub axle 37 secured to aback plate 38. The bevel gear wheel 36 forms part of a differentialcomprising a further bevel gear wheel 39 rotatably mounted on the stubaxle 37 and a bevel pinion "40 rotatably mounted on a shaft 41 extendingradially from a drum 42 rotatably mounted on the axle 37. The *bevelgear wheel 39 is provided with an arm 43 which is secured thereto andwhich is fitted with an actuating pin 44. The drum 42 has securedthereto the ends of two steel tapes 45 and 46. The tape 45, as shown inFIG. 3, extends upwardly from the drum and is secured at its upper endto a cam follower arm 47 pivotally mounted on a shaft 48 and carrying acam bowl 49. The steel tape 46, as shown in FIG. 1, depends from thedrum and supports a weight 50.

Referring to FIG. 3, the gear wheel 33 is fixedly mounted on a bevelgear wheel of a further differential of the form shown in FIG. 4, thedrum of the further differential being provided with a steel tape 51corresponding to the tape 45 and secured to a cam follower arm 52pivoted on a shaft 53 and carrying a cam bowl 54, and a further steeltape 55 supporting, as shown in FIG. 1, a weight 56. The output bevelpinion of the further differential is provided with an arm 57 carryingan actuating pin 58.

Referring again to FIG. 3 the actuating pins 44 and 58 engage in turn apair of abutments 59 and 60 at the re spective ends of the oscillationof the gear wheels 32 and 33. The two a-butments 59 and 60 are mountedside by side on one end of a lever 61 pivoted near its middle on theback plate 38 and provided at its opposite end with a bowl 62 which isarranged to move the stem 63 of a slide valve 64 by engaging one or theother of a pair of collars 65 and 66 disposed on the stem 63. A quickchange over of the position of the slide valve 64 is achieved by asecond lever 67 secured to the lever 61 and extending at right anglesacross the pivot axis, each end of the lever 67 being connected to fixedpoints on the back plate 38 by extensible links 68 and 69 urged into theextended position by springs 70 and 71. When one of the pins 44 and 58engages its respective abutment 59 or 60 it moves the two levers 61 and67 about the pivot and when the lever 67 is thereby moved past its deadcentre position a toggle efiect is provided by the extensible links 68and 69 which rapidly urges the bowl 62 into contact with one of thecollars 65 and 66 to move the stem 63 of the slide valve 64 to one ofits end positions.

The slide valve 64 controls the flow of fluid to the ram 11 whichoperates the ring rail 30 so that when the valve 64 is changed over inthe manner just described the fluid flows to the opposite side of thepiston element 13 of the ram 11 and reverses the direction of movementof the rail 34].

The points of reversal at the top and bottom of the traverse aredetermined by the points at which the pins 44 and 58 engage theirrespective abutments 59 and 60 and effect change over of the valve 64.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the absence of any turning movement of the drum42 the oscillatory motion of the gear wheel 32 is transmitted throughthe planet bevel pinion 40 to the bevel pinion 39, causing the actuatingpin 44 to move in an arcuate path with a constant regular stroke, theoscillatory motion of the gear wheel 33 imparting a like motion to theactuating pinion 58 but in opposition to the pin 44. Such motion of thepins 44 and 58 would cause the slide valve 64 to switch over as the ringrail 30 reaches a predetermined uppermost point and a predeterminedlowermost point, and would result in a constant traverse of the rail.

In order to provide a build with tapered ends, the traverse of the ringrail must be gradually reduced. This is achieved by imparting to thedrum 42 a continuous slow turning movement which will cause the arm 43to advance and bring the pin 44 to a position in which it causes anearlier switching over of the valve 64, the drum associated with thedifferential driving the pin 58 likewise being rotated to advance thepin 58. The required turning movement of the drum is effected by theangular turning of the cam follower arms 47 and 52 controlled by cams 72and 73 fixed on shafts 74 and 75, which as shown in FIG. I carry wormwheels 76 and 77 driven by worms 78 and 79 fixed on a cross shaft 80driven from a reduction gear box 81, the input to which is provided bythe drive to the draw roll 82 of the machine.

The building motion as illustrated is set out to provide a warp orroving type build in which each successive chase on the bobbin isgradually reduced in length. In one complete bobbin build the earns 72and 73 are driven through only part of a revolution so that only thecurved portion of each cam surface engages the cam bowl. The effect ofthis cam action will be to gradually move actuating pins 44 and 58towards each other so that the reversal point at each end of thetraverse will occur earlier on each successive stroke throughout thebuild. Cams of any desired shape may be employed. The cam surface may beshaped to control the build through one part of a revolution or the cammay make several revolutions to give a repetition of a certain buildingoperation throughout the build. A circular cam may if desired beemployed so that there will be no gradual advance of the pins 44 and 58and the ring rail will be reversed at the 4 same position after eachexcursion. The gear box 31 is referably made such that the reductionratio can readily be changed to provide any one of a variety of timecycles; for the rotation of the cams 72 and 73 to suit various. builds.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A builder motion for a textile machine of the type specified,comprising a traverse rail drive which can be switched between a firstcondition in which it imparts a drive to the traverse rail in one senseand a second condition in which it imparts a drive to the rail in theopposite sense, and switching means for switching the drive alternatelyfrom one of its conditions to the other, said switching means comprisingtwo differential mechanisms each having a first rotary input memberarranged to be oscillated in synchronism with the movement of thetraverse rail, a second rotary input member responsive to a buildadjusting mechanism, and a rotary output member, the rotary outputmember of one of the differential mechanisms initiating the switching ofthe traverse rail drive from the first condition to the second conditionand the rotary output member of the other differential: mechanisminitiating the switching of the traverse rail drive from the secondcondition to the first condition.

2. A builder motion according to claim 1, wherein said rotary outputmember includes a pin mounted eccentrically with respect to the rotaryaxis of the output member and adapted upon turning movement of thelatterto deflect a control element initiating the switching of thetraverse rail drive.

3. A builder motion according to claim 2, wherein the control elementwhen deflected moves to either of tworest positions under the control ofa mechanism ensuring; a quick change over from one position to theother.

4. A builder motion according to claim 2, wherein. the drive to thetraverse rail comprises hydraulic ram. means which in said firstcondition is fed with pressure: fluid to impart a drive to the traverserail in one sense: and in said second condition is fed with pressurefluid to impart a drive to the traverse rail in the opposite sense,. andwherein said control element serves to operate a pilot: valvecontrolling the feeding of pressure fluid to thehydraulic ram means.

5. A builder motion according to claim 2, wherein the control element isprovided with spaced studs one: of which is adapted to be engaged by theeccentrically located pin on the rotary output member of one of the:differential mechanism to cause displacement of the com trol element toone of its two rest positions and theother of which is adapted to beengaged by an eccen-- trically located pin on the rotary output memberof the other differential mechanism to cause displacement of the controlelement to the other of the two positions.

6. A builder motion according to claim 1', wherein the first rotaryinput member of each differential mechanism comprises an input bevelgear wheel mounted for rotation about a predetermined axis and arrangedto be oscillated in synchronism with the movement of the traverse rail,wherein the rotary output member of the differential mechanism comprisesan output bevel gear wheel mounted for rotation about the saidpredetermined axis and spaced from the input bevel gear wheel, andwherein the secondary rotary input member comprises a planetary bevelpinion meshing with the input and output bevel gear wheels and rotatablymounted on a rotary input element for rotation about an axis passingthrough said predetermined axis at right angles thereto, said rotaryinput element being mounted for rotation about said predetermined axis.

7. A builder motion according to claim 6, wherein said rotary elementcomprises a drum to which are secured and upon which are wound inopposite senses the ends of two elongate flexible elements, one of whichextends from the drum and is secured at its other end to a cam 5follower and the other of which extends from the drum in the oppositesense and is subjected to a biasing force maintaining it under tension.

8. A builder motion according to claim 7, wherein the said other of theflexible elements supports a weight providing said biasing force.

9. A building motion according to claim 1, wherein a separate buildadjusting mechanism is provided for controlling the movement of thesecond rotary input member of each of the differential mechanisms.

10. A builder motion according to claim 1, wherein the build adjustingmechanism comprises a cam operated from a rotary element of the machineand arranged to displace a cam follower to cause a predetermined turningmovement of the secondary rotary input member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,749,055 6/ 1956 Bauer 242-2622,764,363 9/ 1956 StamInWitz 242-26 2 3,042,326 7/1962 Lamb et a129226.3 3,097,475 7/ 1963 Hooper et a1 242.--26.2 X 3,130,930 4/1964Miller 242-263 15 STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner.

